Adobe is a trusted company that produces many software products. Photoshop is a very popular program that is used by graphic designers, photographers and practically anyone who works with computer images. Adobe offers certifications for their Photoshop products and other software programs that they make. Having a certificate from such a well known company is a great addition to any resume. So, what does it take to become an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE)? It is essentially as easy as paying a fee (usually $150 for each exam), using Adobe's Prep Guide and taking the test. There are over 20 different programs that you can take an exam for and get certified in. As an example, I'll analyze the Photoshop CS4 exam. Before you pay the fee to take the exam you may want to look over the Prep Guide in order to see if you will be successful. With the guide, you will also be able to practice the steps necessary to passing the exam. Adobe Photoshop CS4 costs $699 at the onset, so you definitely want to get the most out of this program. In order to get certified, you need to understand and be familiar with the topics which are "general knowledge, correcting, painting and retouching images, working with selections, creating and using layers, working with masks and channels, working with vector tools, suing Camera Raw and Bridge, automating tasks, managing color, advanced knowledge, creating output for print, and creating output for web and mobile devices." Each one of these categories counts as a certain percentage for the entire exam. There are 74 questions and you need to get 70% of them correct in order to pass. The criteria for the other exams are very similar to the ones for Photoshop CS4, between 60 - 90 questions with a required 70% to pass and a $150 exam fee. Other programs that you can get ACE certified in are "Adobe Photoshop, Flash, InDesign, Illustrator, Premier Pro, AfterEffects and Dreamweaver CS4 and CS3 versions" as well as "Adobe RoboHelp, Captivate, Photoshop Lightroom 2, ColdFusion 8, Acrobat 9 Professional, Flash Lite 2.0 Mobile Developer, Flex 3 with AIR and FrameMaker 8.0." All of these programs work to advance your Photoshop skills. I feel that it is also important to keep current with the program, and you can recertify any of these programs for a $50 exam fee. I think you'll find that passing the exam and getting an ACE certificate is as good as, if not better than, getting an A grade in a Graphic Design course in college. Once you have passed the exam, it takes 2-4 weeks to get your "certificate kit" in the mail. With the kit, you get a certificate that you can hang on the wall (which is especially nice if you have a walk-in store where people can purchase your imaging services), you will be able to post the ACE logo on your website and you will be able to access the ACE community to further expand your expertise. I am sure you see that getting a Photoshop certification is very beneficial for anyone in the imaging industry. Copyright (c) 2010 Mandi Pralle
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